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2025 County Report

Fires in Wabaunsee County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Wabaunsee County responded to 113 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $200K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

3,139 residents FIPS 20197 16 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
113
560 across 5 years
Building fires
15
70 wildland
Property loss
$983K
$621K structure · $362K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.

113
Total Incidents
Grass fire 49 43.4%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 17 15.0%
Building fires 15 13.3%
Passenger vehicle fire 5 4.4%
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire 4 3.5%
All other categories 23 20.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Wabaunsee County?

Mar peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 6
Feb 3
Mar 33
Apr 31
May 5
Jun 2
Jul 6
Aug 7
Sep 2
Oct 5
Nov 5
Dec 8
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Wabaunsee County

560 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 94
2022 120
2023 133
2024 100
2025 113
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 15 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
24%
9
Cause undetermined
19%
7
Intentional / arson
3%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
16%
6
Under investigation
3%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
35%
13
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $606K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Wabaunsee County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 98% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $200,000 Alma Building fires Significant
2 $150,000 Maple hill Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
3 $100,000 Alta Vista Building fires Significant
4 $60,000 paxico Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
5 $45,000 AltaVista Building fires Significant
6 $15,000 Paxico Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $10,000 Alma Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
8 $10,000 Alta Vista Building fires Significant
9 $10,000 Paxico Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
10 $6,000 Paxico Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Wabaunsee County compares

Wabaunsee County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

36
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Wabaunsee County
36
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
4.78
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Wabaunsee County
4.78
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Wabaunsee County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Wabaunsee County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 20197.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Wabaunsee County

8 departments report from this county.

NEWBURYPAXICO
PAXICO
FDID WB307 38 incidents 16 vol
Wabaunsee Co Fire Dist3
—
FDID WB304 22 incidents 17 vol
Wabaunsee County Fire Dist4
Maple Hill
FDID WB305 21 incidents 15 vol
Wabaunsee County Fire District6
Alma
FDID WB301 15 incidents
Alta Vista City Fire Dept
Alta Vista
FDID WB302 7 incidents 14 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in KS

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 ANNUAL BUR 1998 NPS 60,039
2 Tunner 2011 USFS 19,656
3 Boiling Springs 2021 PRI 4,571
4 BIG SALT MARSH 2010 FWS 3,697
5 Steeler 2006 USFS 2,380
6 Greenwood 2010 USFS 2,078
7 15 Two Section East Traps 2015 NPS 2,060
8 21 Big South 2021 NPS 1,954
9 Cottonwood 2018 FWS 1,508
10 East Kennedy Creek 2019 PRI 1,115

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.